The Jerome Gambit is not a drawish opening. Only 3% of the Jerome Gambit games in The Database are draws. Only 3 of the completed games in the current ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament have been drawn. It would seem, therefore, that splitting the point would be difficult, but the following game argues against that: White sacrifices a piece, Black gives it back, they draw. Q.E.D.
Rikiki00 - shm19cs
ChessWorld, Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d3
One of the "modern" (non 5.Nxe5) Jerome Gambit lines.
5...h6 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.Be3 Nd4 10.Bxd4 Bxd4 11.Nxe5+ Bxe5 12.Qxh5+
White has grabbed a second pawn as partial compensation for his sacrificed piece.
12...g6 13.Qf3+ Kg7 14.Rad1 c5 15.Nd5 Qd7 16.c3 Rf8 17.Qe3 Nf6 18.Nxf6 Rxf6
A slip that forces Black to return the piece.
19.f4 Rhf8 20.fxe5 Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 22.Kxf1 dxe5
White's extra pawn does not mean a lot.
23.Ke2 b6 24.Qf3 a5 25.Qg3 Qe6 26.b3 b5 27.Ke3 Qd6 28.Qg4 b4 29.cxb4 axb4 30.Qe2 Qd4+ 31.Kf3 Kf6 32.Qc2 draw
Anyone familiar with the Kentucky Derby horse race has heard Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home", its official song.
Many chess players familiar with the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) know that it was referred to by Joseph Henry Blackburne as "The Kentucky Opening".
Blackburne's reference is a bit obscure, but less so since the advent of this blog: see "The Kentucky Opening" parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and "The Kentucky / Danvers Opening".
In any event, I recently stumbled upon a Kentucky Opening /Jerome Gambit tournament played at Chess.com. The tournament is interesting in a number of respects, not the least of which is the winner, GazzaT, was rated 2468.
So, in addition to monthly samplings from FICS, and the games from the ongoing ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, I now have Chess.com games to share with readers!
That is a lot to be thankful for.
As an addendum to yesterday's post (see "Do Not Wander Too Far From Home"), when considering a risky line (for Black) in the Jerome-ized Italian Gambit, White, too, must make the right move.
augmented - MAHG
standard, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4 6.Nxe5+ Ke6
The same adventurous stroll as in Darrenshome - WildErmine, blitz, FICS, 2006.
7.Bf4
The direct route to the finish line is 7.Qg4+, as we saw yesterday.
7...d6
Instead, backing the King away with 7...Ke7, or preparing for that move with 7...Nf6, each let Black keep his advantage.
Now White can checkmate.
8.Qg4+ Ke7
8...Kf6 9.Bg5+ Kxe5 10.f4+ Kxe4 11.Nc3+ Ke3 12.f5+ Qxg5 13.Qxg5#
9.Qxg7+ Ke8 10.Qf7 checkmate
Yesterday's post (see "Still An InterestingGame") got me thinking about an early d2-d4 for White in the Jerome Gambit and related openings. That, in turn, got me thinking about the Italian Gambit (see "Brilliant but not sound" too) and helped me turn up the following game.
Darrenshome - WildErmine
blitz, FICS, 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d4
The Italian Gambit.
All three of Black's captures of the d-pawn can lead to a roughly equal game, but the second player should remain attentive.
4...Nxd4 5.Bxf7+
Transposing to the Jerome Gambit, i.e. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.d4 Nxd4.
5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Ke6
Black either does not believe in what he sees, or he is careless and does not watch where he is going. In either event, it is risky to wander too far from home...
7.Qg4+ Kxe5 8.Bf4+ Kxe4 9.Nc3 checkmate
Here is the latest Jerome Gambit game from Bill Wall, who writes
After seeing your article on Utterly Fascinating, I decided to play the 5.d4 line as well, but my opponent took with the bishop instead of the pawn. Still an interesting game.
Wall,B - Guest1366999
Playchess.com, 2011
notes by Bill [comments by Rick]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d4!?
[The Database has over 1500 games with this move. White scores 38%. Also check out "A Closer Look At the Big Picture (Part 3)"]
5...Bxd4
This may be better than 5...exd4
[See "Brilliant but not sound".]
6.c3 Bc5?
This gives me the piece back.
6...Bb6 should be played, then I may play 7.Qb3+.
7.Qd5+ Ke8 8.Qxc5 Qe7
9.Qc4 Nf6 10.0-0 d6 11.Be3 Be6 12.Qb5 Qd7
12...Nxe4 13.Qxb7
13.Ng5
13.Qxb7 Rb8 14.Qa6 Rxb2
13...a6?!
Now not as effective as I will have more threats and win another pawn; perhaps 13...Nd8
14.Qxb7 Rb8 15.Qxa6 Ke7
Not 15...Rxb2 16.Nxe6 Qxe6 17.Qxc6+ winning a piece.
16.Nxe6 Kxe6 17.Qc4+ Ke7 18.a4
Passed pawns must be pushed.
18...Rxb2 19.a5 Ra8 20.a6 Ng4 21.Bg5+ Nf6
Not 21...Ke8?? 22.Qg8#
22.Nd2 h6 23.Bxf6+ gxf6 24.Nf3 Rb6
25.Nh4 Qe6 26.Nf5+ Kd7 27.Qd3 h5 28.Ne3 Qb3 29.Nd5 Qb5
30.Qh3+! Kd8 31.Qe6 Rbb8 32.Qg8+ Kd7 33.Qf7+ Kd8 34.Qf8+
34.Nxf6 may have been quicker, but I was in time pressure with 30 seconds left.
34...Kd7 35.Qg7+ Kd8 36.Nxf6 Ne7 37.Qf8+ Qe8 38.Qxe8 checkmate
graphic by The Wizard of Draws
Little has changed at the top of the standings in the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, where almost 90% of the games have been completed.
AsceticKingK9 remains the un-catchable winner with 25 points out of 28 games.
He is followed by mckenna215, with 23.5 points out of 28 games.
Rikiki00 has snagged a point in the race for third, fourth and fifth place, now having 16.5 points in 24 games. He is hoping to bypass Knight32 with 18.5 points out of 28 games and Braken with 18.5 points out of 27 games.
White surprises Black.
Black surprises White.
Sometimes it is not only "who surprises who" that counts, but who recovers from the surprise first, as the following game from the soon-to-be-finished ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament shows.
braken - klonka59
ChessWorld
Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+ Kf8
The Jerome Gambit Declined, a rare bird.
White surprises Black with the gift of what is, objectively, a won game. Black, in turn, surprises White by preferring to be a pawn down, with an ill-at-ease King.
5.Bd5 Nf6 6.Ng5
This attacking move opens the diagonal for White's Queen while preparing a fork of Black's heavy pieces. Nonetheless it has its downside.
6...Nxe4
Perhaps Black has become disoriented, overlooking, for starters, that the White Bishop that should have disappeared at f7 is now protecting the pawn he just grabbed.
Or, perhaps he was aware that the Bishop was still on the job, and expected, after 7.Bxe4, to play 7...Qxg5.
In either case, he missed the more effective 6...Nxd5 7.exd5 Qxg5.
7.Nxe4
Saving the White Knight, and putting the heat on the Black King.
7...Ne7 8. Qf3+ Black resigned
Black will lose his Knight and Queen, for starters.
I started a new job recently, and I am firmly convinced that my hiring was helped by my discussion of this blog as an "ongoing study of errors in thinking". The following game is an excellent example: White disturbs the Black King, keeps it in the middle of the board, pins a piece to it, and then wins the piece. All that shaking leaves Black quite rattled, so the game suddenly ends...
Victus - Bennysah,
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.d4
One of the "modern" Jerome Gambit (not-5.Nxe5) variations, offering a pawn for more open lines.
5...exd4 6.Ng5+ Ke8
Black decides that his King will be safer in the center at e8 than if blocking development at f8. This could be true, but it will take due dilligence.
7.Qf3 Nf6 8.0-0 d5 9.e5 Nxe5
An unprotected piece on an open file, shielding the King? Not a problem.
Yet.
10.Re1 Bd6 11.Bf4 Bg4
Chases the Queen to where she wants to go. Now Black will have to return a piece.
12.Qg3 h5
13.Bxe5 Bxe5 14.Qxe5+ Kf8 15.Ne6+
Fearing the loss of his Queen from the Knight fork, Black resigned
Utterly fascinating.
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
Method of Operating
by Eric Jégo
TheBookEdition (2011)
ISBN: 978-2-9536013-1-2
softcover, 164 pages
figurine algebraic notation
http://ericlediemerophile.blogspot.com/
http://gambit-blackmar-diemer.cabanova.fr/
The English-language version of Eric Jégo's French-language Gambit Blackmar-Diemer Modus Operandi has a number of changes and improvements.
In addition to "Acknowledgements", "Dany Sénéchaud’s [of Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques] Preface" and "Eric Jégo's Preamble" there is a selection of "Reviews of the French edition".
As readers of the first edition requested, games now have the ratings of the players given, as well as the time control (i.e. correspondence, classical, blitz, etc.)
To save some space, each chapter starts with a main line (say, "Bolgoljubow Defense 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 g6") and then the games are given, each "starting" from that point on. The author has "boxed" the first moves of the games (say 6.Bf4) to make them stand out a bit more visually, and allow the readers' eyes to better pick up on the continuity.
It is easier to keep track as to what line the game is following, as additional data (e.g. "6.Bc4 Bc7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qe1 Nc6 9.Qh4 Ng4 Kloss Variation") is given at the bottom of the page.
There is a player index at the back of the book.
The print is somewhat smaller, allowing for the above additions, but producing 164 pages instead of the original 188 pages.
Of course, the book still has 287 annotated Blackmar-Diemer Gambit games, many of which you have probably not seen before (even if you have several BDG books). It still has the 14 "Elementary Principles" of BDG play outlined at the front, and referred to in the notes of each game.
Yesterday on this blog I asked
How far will the members of the Blackmar Diemer Gemeinde go in pursuit of esoteric knowledge? Brush up on their German so they can read Diemer’s original Vom Ersten Zug An Auf Matt! ? Freshen up their French, so they can appreciate Dany Sénéchaud’s, Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques ?Actually, if you are a BDG fanatic, that’s not a bad idea. And I have just the place for you to start: Eric Jégo’s new Gambit Blackmar-Diemer.
If they do so, they will have games and analysis unavailable to others who are unwilling to work that hard to improve their game. They will also experience more of the joy that is the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.
In making his second edition an English translation, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Method of Operating author Jégo has gone a step further than Diemer and Sénéchaud, making the steps that an adventurous English-speaking reader needs to take a little less burdensome. Meeting him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, as it were (at least for American readers).
Yet, this boldest move is also the riskiest, for the result is often something akin to the "Frenglish" that automated translation services such as Babelfish can produce. Sometimes the going is easy, as with phrases such as "e6 allows White to arrange the Kingside" and "the sole interest of such a development is to accelerate the protection of the Black King." Sometimes the going is shaky, such as "the White Knight may well not stand the offensive in the Kingside but self removes a useful piece for defense, does not develop the Black play and enhances the White play." (Reading Sénéchaud’s references to J.P. Sartre in his "Preface" are extraordinarily painful.)
As I wrote to the author,
In my Chessville review of your book's French language edition, I told readers that if they really wanted an edge in the BDG, they would have to do some work.
Do I speak German? No. Do I have a German - English dictionary, and have I bought Diemer's classic work? Of course! Playing over his games, even the Ryder Gambits, is pure magic. I learned a bit of German, too.
Do I speak French? Sure -- like a Spanish cow! But -- I am willing to work to improve my BDG game. So I have your book, and Dany Sénéchaud’s, Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques as well. Is it work the effor to struggle to understand? Sure it is!
The true English-speaking BDG-phile is not afraid of a German language or French language book. There are treasures to uncover!
In my mind, it is very much worth the effort to pick up Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Method of Operating and work with it, even if you decide that the games are the most important content of all; and they are in simple figurine algebraic notation.
Eric Jégo has come out with a second, English-language edition of his Blackmar Diemer Gambit, Method of Operating, Accepted - Declined - Avoided.
Today I want to share my review (from Chessville) of his first, French-language edition. Tomorrow, I will address what improvements he has made in the new edition.
Gambit Blackmar-Diemer Modus Operandi
TheBookEdition (2010)
ISBN: 978-2-9536013-0-5
softcover, 188 pages
figurine algebraic notation
http://ericlediemerophile.blogspot.com/
http://gambit-blackmar-diemer.cabanova.fr/
Serious chess players are always looking for an edge. Bobby Fischer learned Russian to keep up with magazines coming out of the U.S.S.R. Later, grandmasters grabbed each issue of Chess Informant as it came out – as they do today with New In Chess.
The advent of computer chess game databases meant getting the largest and the newest – and keeping it up-to-date with games from internet sources such as "The Week in Chess." Internet sources like "Chess Vibes Openings" and "Chess Publishing" keep subscribers up-to-date on the latest opening wrinkles.
Serious followers of the Blackmar Diemer Gambit are no different. As Ken Smith wrote:
For every White initiative a better defense always seems to present itself for Black, and for every refutation the Black side recommends improvements are found for White.
Where do you find those improvements?
While it’s nice to have FM Eric Schiller’s Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, for example, it’s important to have IM Gary Lane’s The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit as well. Have Tim Sawyer’s Blackmar Diemer Gambit Keybook? His The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Keybook II is much bigger! You say you have Tom Purser’s entire run of “BDG World” magazine on CD? What about Tejler’s and Kampars’ “Blackmar Diemer Gambit / Opening Adventures” magazine?
And so it goes.
How far will the members of the Blackmar Diemer Gemeinde go in pursuit of esoteric knowledge? Brush up on their German so they can read Diemer’s original Vom Ersten Zug An Auf Matt! ? Freshen up their French, so they can appreciate Dany Sénéchaud’s, Emil J. Diemer, missionnaire des échecs acrobatiques ?
Actually, if you are a BDG fanatic, that’s not a bad idea. And I have just the place for you to start: Eric Jégo’s new Gambit Blackmar-Diemer. Even if you speak French like a Spanish cow, it’s time to get out your Petite Larousse English-French dictionary (or download a free copy to your iPhone) and start discovering.
Or you can simply bypass the language for now and just play over the 287 games that Jégo presents in figurine algebraic notation. More than half of them were played in 1999 or more recently – check your bookshelf, how many BDG titles do you have from the new millennium?
Eric Jégo is a serious member of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit Gemeinde, as even a few minutes on his web pages (given at the top of this review) will show you. His enthusiasm is contagious.
Several things set Gambit Blackmar-Diemer apart (aside from being the only whole book in French devoted to the opening). For starters, it is one of the most attractive and well-laid out books that I have seen on the BDG, easily bypassing the efforts of Schachverlag Rudi Schmaus, for example, in their Das moderne Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit series. Props must be given to the author and the people at TheBookEdition (a print-on-demand publisher) for their efforts toward perfection.
Inside a glossy cover with a picture of the Black King lying on its side, signifying surrender, the book arranges its games in 28 chapters, by variation. Each chapter starts with the title, the opening moves, and a short strategic description. A “thermometer”-style bar is then given, showing the percentage of wins by White, draws, and wins by Black in the author’s database.
There is a diagram of the starting position for the variation, and then the games follow, with words for annotations, not merely Informant symbols. (Each game “starts” from the diagram, so that the initial moves are not given; this accommodates transpositions from other openings into the BDG, and likely saves space as well.)
At the beginning of Gambit Blackmar-Diemer, after a striking "Preface" by Dany Sénéchaud (it’s not often that you see Jean Paul Sartre referred to in a chess book; my comparison of IM Ilya Odessky’s writing to Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky hardly counts) and a "Preamble" by the author, readers encounter Jégo’s 14 “Elementary Principles” of play in the Blackmar Diemer Gambit.
For example, “After Black castles, the White King Bishop will to to c4 against …g6, or d3 against …e6” and “White’s Queen Bishop will ideally be placed on g5, to pin or eliminate the Black Knight on f6.” Thereafter, the author can simply refer in a discussion in his annotations to the relevant principle, e.g. “PE8.” (BDG enthusiast Rev. Tim Sawyer lists all 14 Elementary Principles in his review on Tom Purser’s blog – another fine BDG resource.)
At the end of the book there is a short list of BDG references (here is a long, albeit incomplete, list) and a very nice list of internet resources.
I have a few, basic, suggestions for a second edition of Gambit Blackmar-Diemer. I know that it was probably done to conserve space, but identifying a game solely by the players’ names and the year it was played – e.g. “Le Goff F. X. – Guinovart J. 2005” – is too spare; at least the location of the match, if not the name or kind of tournament, would be informative additions. A Players’ Index would be nice, as well.
In the meantime, here is one of the 287 games in the book – the only one that doesn’t start from a diagram, but has all of its moves; and given that White was played by Gary Kasparov, no wonder...
Kasparov – Carneiro
2004
(I discovered that this game was played in a simultaneous exhibition in Sao Paolo, Brazil - RK)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.f3 Nf6 5.e4 dxe4 6.Nc3 exf3 7.Nxf3 Bg4
(Via the Trompowsky Attack, Kasparov has made his way to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Teichmann Defense – actually, a move up for White.
A little research shows that if instead 7…e6, we would transpose to Jansa – Sosonko, Amsterdam 1975 – a BDG, Euwe Defense, again a move up. For that matter, 6…e3, instead of 6…exf3, would have transposed to Milov – Gelfand, Biel, 1995 – a BDG declined, Langeheinecke Defense, likewise a move up.
Perhaps the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is just a tempo away from making it big with the Grandmasters? - RK)
8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 c6 10.O-O-O e6 11.Bc4 Nbd7 12.d5 cxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 a5 15.Bxb7 Ra7 16.Rxd7 Qf6 17.Rhd1 Be7 18.Rxe7+ Qxe7 19.Qc6+ Kf8 20.Bd6 g6 21.Bxe7+ Kxe7 22.Qc5+ Kf6 23.Qxa7 Rf8 24.Qd4+ e5 25.Qd6+ Kg7 26.Qxe5+ Kg8 27.Qf6 h5 28.Bd5 Kh7 29.Bxf7 1-0
So: if you’ve made the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit your secret weapon, go one more step and make Eric Jégo’s Gambit Blackmar-Diemer your ultra super secret weapon – only your opponents will regret that you did so!
As the 2011 edition of the ChessWorld Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament comes to a close, it seems fitting that the first full game looked at in any depth be one between the tournament's top-rated & top-finishing player, and the current top over-the-board Jerome Gambiteer.
The game quickly becomes as sharp and as theoretical as any modern opening line.
AsceticKingK9 - blackburne
ChessWorld, JG6 tournament, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Qxe5 d6
The Blackburne Defense, harking back to Amateur - Blackburne, London, 1885. See "Nobody Expects the Jerome Gambit!"
Not surprisingly, the modern "blackburne" has played this sacrificial line as well. See "blackburne as Blackburne with black".
8.Qxh8 Qh4 9.0-0
An alternative, but still complicated, line of play (see "Update: Blackburne Defense") is preferred by Houdini (who prefers White): 9.d4 Nf6 10.Nd2 Bxd4 11.0-0 Ng4 12.Nf3 Qxf2+ 13.Rxf2 Bxh8 14.Ne5+ Kg8 15.Nxg4 Bxg4 16.c3 Bg7 17.Be3 Re8 18.Re1 Rxe4 19.Rf4 Rxf4 20.Bxf4 Kf7 where Black has the two Bishops and a pawn for the exchange.
9...Nf6 10.Qd8 Bh3
Having sacrificed one Rook, Black now offers the other.
Not quite as strong is 10...Bb6 as with 11.e5 White frees his Queen: 11...dxe5 12.Qd3 e4 13.Qc3 Nd5 14.Qg3 Qf6 15.Nc3 Nxc3 16.dxc3 Be6 17.a4 Rc8 18.Re1 Bf5 19.a5 Bc5 20.Bg5 Qc6 21.Be3 Bd6 22.Bf4 Bxf4 23.Qxf4 h5 24.h3 Qf6 25.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4 Be6 27.Rxe4 g5 28.Qg3 Bd5 29.Re5 Be6 30.Rae1 Re8 31.Qd3 Kg7 32.Rxe6 Rxe6 33.Qd7+ Black resigned, Wall,B - Foo,N, Palm Bay, FL, 2010.
11.Qxc7+
Of course, 11.Qxa8? would have led quickly to mate after 11...Qg4.
Equally disastrous was the related 11.g3 Qxe4 12.Qxc7+ Kf8 White resigned, Siggus - toe, FICS, 2007.
11...Kf8
The proper retreat square, not 11...Kg8 12.Qxb7 Qg4 (12...Re8 13.d4 d5 14.gxh3 Qxh3 15.Qb3 Qg4+ 16.Qg3 Qxe4 17.dxc5 Black resigned, Hiarcs 8 - RevvedUp, blitz 2 12, 2006) 13.Qb3+ and White won, Chandler,G - Dimitrov,T, 5 minute special game, 2004.
12.Qxb7
The critical position.
White is ahead the exchange and four pawns, and threatens to grab a Rook – with check. Still, he should realize that he is on the defensive.
Black's pieces are very active, but the best he can do now is to force White to sue for peace with checks and repetitions.
12...Re8
Instead, 12...Qg4, threatening mate, seems essential.
White's only viable response is to grab the Rook, and then check like crazy, for example, 13.Qxa8+ Kf7 14.Qb7+ (14.e5 d5 and Black will mate) 14...Kf8 15.Qa8+ draws by repetition.
13.gxh3 Qxh3
Black probably figured that with mating threats like ...Nf6-g4 and drawing threats like ...Qh3-g4+-f3+ he would be okay.
White does not give him a chance, however.
14.e5 Rxe5 15.Qg2
Dumping cold water on the attack. When White gets his pieces developed, his extra Rook will tell.
15...Qf5 16.d3 Re2 17.Bh6+ Kf7 18.Nd2 Rxd2 19.Bxd2 Ke6 20.Qb7 Ng4 21.Rae1+ Kf6 22.Qe7 checkmate
It is so much easier in a scary movie: you know that you are moving into danger when the background music becomes ominous, perhaps the screeching of violins...
In a chess game, especially when playing a dubious opening like the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+) it is important to be aware of dangerous themes.
Darthnik - spenjch
blitz, FICS, 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5
Already we have some foreshadowing with 3...h6 4.d4 exd4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.e5 Qe8 7.Qd3 Nxe5 8.Qxd4 Nxf3+ 9.Kf1 Nxd4 White resigned, Benschatko - Lakritzl, FICS, 2006; and
3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Bxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nd5 Nf3+ White resigned, gjtlsdnr - silvalgo, FICS 2011.
4.Bxf7+
4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.d4 Bxd4 7.Qxd4 Qf6
Even here, the danger begins to appear: 7...d6 8.f4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Nf3+ White resigned, Cradle - Foom, FICS, 2008 and Bevs - LordLucika, FICS, 2009.
8.f4 Qh4+
Or simply 8...Nf3+ White resigned, as in ainafets - Papaflesas, FICS, 2007 and stemplarv - KIAUA, FICS, 2007; or further 9.gxf3 Qxd4 White resigned, yorgos - Kompete, FICS, 2009.
9.g3 Nf3+ White resigned
Danger is everywhere, and we must learn to recognize it.
Elvis has left the building.
After rocketing to the top of the chart with a score of 25 points in 25 games in the Chess World Jerome Gambit Thematic Tournament, AsceticKingK9 has lost his first game – on time – to Haroldlee123. His remaining two games, against martind1991, are over the time limit as well, but have not yet been claimed.
Not that it matters. 25 points is enough to win the tournament. (Oddly enough, early on I predicted that the winner would score 24 points. AsceticKingK9 exceeded that number, but 24 would have been enough to put him ahead of the second place finisher. Lucky guess!?)
Second place has been wrapped up by mckenna215, with a score of 23.5 out of 28 games.
Third, fourth and fifth places remain a tangle. Knight32 has 18.5 points out of 28 games. Braken has the same score, with one game remaining. Rikiki00 has 15.5 points in 23 games.
It should be pointed out that Haroldlee123, currently in 10th place with 8 points out of 22 games, nonetheless now has upset wins over both AsceticKingK9 and mckenna215.
As they say, "A fool and his money are soon parted."
And so, as someone interested in unorthodox openings and supportive of independent book publishing (self-, print-on-demand, small press), despite previously-given well-founded concerns, I took the leap and bought James Alan Riechel's Chess Openings: New Theory.
The good news is, there is a lot of creativity in those 30 pages. Well, there actually are only 25 pages of Introductions and analysis, as the author starts numbering at the title page. And most of the 10 chapter Introductions are a half-page of print and a half-page of white space. Did I mention that there is adequate white space in the layout?
First off is the York Opening, 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nd5!? Riechel give no indication as to where the name comes from – player, location, literary allusion – and for a few pages I thought that he might have been recalling the English children's nursery rhyme, since White's advance Knight soon gets booted
Oh, The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down.
But, no. There are chapters on the York Benko, the York-Sandnes MacCutcheon variation in the French Defense. Since the last chapter, on the American Opening, 1.Nc3 c5 2.Nd5!? contains the Riechel Variation, perhaps the nomenclature is person-based after all. (I have not checked my complete run of Randspringer, Myers Openings Bulletin, and Kaissiber magazines, so perhaps the truth is somewhere in there.)
A few general comments.
Using a very-accessible online games database, ChessLab, I tested the "newness" of all of the lines, including the named "theoretical novelties". The "Ts" were usually "N", but most of the openings generally had been trod before (although not by masters, and not necessarily the complete lines the author gives).
The "Danish Gambit" line, as the author calls it (others might think: Center Game), 1.e4 e5 2.d4 Nf6!? is given the name the Alekhine Variation ("Black attacks e4 in the style of Alekhine"). I think the move dates back to Greco.
Brashly, 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c5!? ("An unrecognized move in an old, well-established line") is given the name "The French Gambit" by the author. At least a few people (i.e. those who bought The Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses, by Kennedy and Sheffield) attribute the line to Frank Marshall.
As a reviewer, I find myself in a peculiar dilemma: if I quote as much analysis as I usually did in past reviews at Chessville, I will wind up quoting whole chapters of Chess Openings: New Theory. Where does "fair use" cross over into "copyright infringement"? (The whole book would have made a decent contribution to an issue of Gary Gifford's Unorthodox Opening Newsletter.)
Plus, it probably will not matter. If you are a great fan of junk openings, you will probably want the book, even if it mostly sits on your shelf after one reading. If you are not a fan, you probably have not gotten this far in the review, anyhow.
Is it a measure of my "unorthodoxy" that, all told, I am still wondering when the author's next book will come out??
